Microbe hunters

Microbe hunters

Author: Paul De Kruif / Editorial. Captain Swing / ISBN: 978-84-122817-2-9

They say that time puts things in their place. So I can safely say that "Microbe hunters” is a masterpiece of popular science, since 95 years have passed since it was published, and every so often it is republished again so that it can be read by new generations of scientists who are going to dedicate themselves to the study of life . In my case, I read it for the first time during my degree back in 1986, when I bought a pocket edition of the Salvat Scientific Library collection, (which in turn was a reprint of the edition made by the Aguilar publishing house in the 1950s). When I read it, Paul de Kruif's book was already 60 years old, and yet it didn't strike me as an outdated or old-fashioned book. Quite the opposite, because I devoured it in a few days while taking my Metro rides to college.

It is difficult to write about a famous book since there are many who have already done it before you. I'm not going to say it was a life-changing book that inspired me to choose microbiology as a way of life, because that wouldn't be true. But it is true that it is one of those books that you read more than once (in my case four times, the last time to write this comment) and that I have had a great time every time I have done it. Although it is also true that time and experience make you enjoy each of these readings in a different way. Additionally, the new translation made for this edition published by Capitán Swing It has shown me how society changes in the appreciation of things.

Paul De Kruif was one of the pioneers of popular science. He was a bacteriologist and a member of Simon Flexner's research group at the Rockefeller Institute. In 1922 he anonymously wrote a popular essay in which he railed against the doctors of the time, describing his practices as closer to religious rituals than scientific rigor. When it was discovered that he was the author he was fired from the Rockefeller Institute, so he decided to change his career and make a living from writing. Shortly after, he met the writer Sinclair Lewis and together they embarked on the writing of a work on the practice of scientific medicine, giving birth to the novel “Arrowsmith”. Lewis was the one who provided literature to the descriptions made by De Kruif and when they published it they agreed that only Lewis would appear as the author and that the benefits would be shared at 75:25. "Arrowsmith”Became a bestseller and later De Kruif would regret not having reached a better deal, although at the time it had seemed more than fair. But the friendship with Lewis allowed him to learn lessons on how to write a novel and put them into practice with his first and best book: “Microbe hunters”.

The idea for the book was given to him by Jules Bordet, whom he knew from his days as a researcher at the Rockefeller Institute. According to Bordet he was the right one to write a microbes novel since the history of microbiology was a unique mix of adventure and science. So De Kruif got to it and for his story he chose the lives of 13 microbiologists who he described in 12 chapters that are:

• Leeuwenhoek. The first microbe hunter
• Spallanzani. Germs have to have parents!
• Pasteur. Microbes are a threat!
• Koch. The fighter against death
• Pasteur and the mad dog.
• Roux and Behring. The massacre of the guinea pigs
• Metchnikoff. The friendly phagocytes
• Theobald Smith. Ticks and Texas Fever
• Bruce. The trail of the tsetse fly.
• Ross against Grassi. Malaria.
• Walter Reed. For the sake of Science ... and for humanity!
• Paul Ehrlich. The magic bullet

De Kruif writes in a lively and direct style in which the facts do not matter as much as the plot of the story. We could say that in many of the passages of the book we must apply the saying “yes it is not true and well found”, because what De Kruif does is describe what could be defined as “heroic science” (just read the title of chapter 11) that shows an unshakable faith in the essential role of science in human progress. The book had notable influence as it inspired the film adaptations of the lives of Pasteur, Ehrlich and Reed (the first two have been discussed in NoticiaSEM No. 60 and No. 82 respectively). Although it also had its share of controversy in its time since Ronald Ross accused De Kruif of libel and as a consequence the British edition of the work was published without chapter 10. But it must be taken into account that “Microbe hunters”Is one of the first popular science books, that no one had done something like this before and it was written in 1926. The worldview of the people of that time was very different from what we have now, and on some occasions it is necessary that the reader has a certain sense of irony and historical context. If it is lacking, then one can understand that there are situations such as that the US publisher advises in a previous note that various terms may "be unfortunate" or that the translator of this new Spanish edition has translated "parents", it is included "fathers and mothers”, By“ parents ”.

Despite those little things, "Microbe hunters“There is much more good than bad about it. Not only are we shown the fundamental aspects of scientific activity such as curiosity, methodological rigor and care in describing only what one is sure of thanks to experimentation. We are also described more mundane things like Pasteur's patriotic outbursts, Metchnikoff's inordinate enthusiasm, or Spallanzani's cynicism, showing that these scientists were also human and that they had their own flaws and virtues. And thanks to Rhea, De Kruif's second wife and to whom he dedicated the book, we know the fundamental role played by women like Louise, Emma, ​​Olga and especially Jane, in helping their respective husbands to complete their research work. In this new edition published by Capitan Swing includes the introduction by Dr. Francisco González-Crussi, written for the 1995 North American edition. A work from his time that has stood the test of time. A must for anyone interested in microbiology.

Manuel Sánchez-Angulo

Miguel Hernandez University

m.sanchez@goumh.umh.es